Rags To Better Rags
by guess1357911
Summary: Dick finds himself adopting four children after the eldest pickpockets his wallet. Now he has to deal with being a cop by day, a vigilante by night and a father 24/7.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Dick smiled and waved to another group of giggling girls as he walked back to his car. He was on BPD patrol in the older and more crime-ridden part of Bludhaven. His partner, Amy, had disappeared the moment he parked the car claiming that there had been a domestic disturbance call across town. He suspected that she had gone to play hooky, not that there was much to do today. The city seemed almost still today, no robberies, no drug dealers- nothing at all. It was sort of freaking Dick out. Day or night Bludhaven always had a crime in progress, it was considered one of the worst cities in the country, only second to Gotham. But while Gotham had Batman to take care of her crimes during the night, Bludhaven had its hero Nightwing.

A smile appeared on Dick's face as he thought of his night job. Going out on patrol as Nightwing brought a sense of satisfaction to Dick that he couldn't get from being a cop. Flying through the air from rooftop to rooftop. The wind blowing in his hair as he punched a thug.

 _Ahhhhh… the satisfaction._

Dick was brought out of his revelry as he felt a small body slam into his legs. He looked down in surprise at the boy who had ran into him.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. Are you ok?" Dick offered his hand to the boy on the floor. The boy looked up and angrily pushed Dick's hand away before getting up himself.

"I'm just dandy." The boy muttered while dusting his clothes off.

Dick took that moment to scrutinize the boy. He had jet black hair and a pale complexion. The boy probably only reached Dick's waist and had a muscular physique for being so young. His cheeks were slightly hallowed in and Dick found he could almost see all his ribs through the thin, dirty, cotton shirt he was wearing.

An orphan most probably Dick concluded with an air of pity. Such sights were not uncommon in this city. Orphans were usually put in an orphanage for a couple of months before they were either adopted or they ran away. The first option was unlikely, being as most people in Bludhaven had barely any money to feed themselves, the children were usually left to fend for themselves.

Dick understood that situation very well. After his parent's death, he had been put in an orphanage for a few weeks before the matron, a racist, transferred Dick to Gotham Juvie. He stayed there for a total of three days before he ran away to Jump City. There, he had lived on the streets for a month until he joined a ragtag group of heroes that had been impressed by his acrobatic moves on a lamp post. They called themselves the Teen Titans and Nightwing was born. Somehow Dick found himself as a leader and helped the once unknown group of heroes grow globally. Eventually when Dick turned eighteen he decided it was time for him to start out on his own. So he said goodbye to his team and girlfriend, Kori, and moved to Bludhaven.

He tried out for the police academy and well… here he was now. Dick still kept up with the Teen Titans, video chatting Kori every day and visited once or twice a month. Looking at the boy he had knocked into brought back memories of living on the street.

Finished dusting himself off the boy looked up at Dick with green eyes glittering in anger and frustration. "You're supposed to tackle the bad guys not little boys!" The boy snarled. "Watch where you're going." Crossing his arms the green-eyed boy marched past him before turning a corner and disappearing.

As soon as the boy was out of sight Dick remembered how the boy had brushed past him and recalled a similar pickpocketing maneuver. Dick started patting down his pockets checking for anything missing. Patting his back pocket Dick felt it empty. _That boy just pickpocketed my wallet!_ Dick's shock quickly turned into anger. He turned around and ran around the corner into an empty alley.

Dick stood there gazing at the garbage cans. _That boy had to be here, there's no other place to go._ After a few more minutes of silence Dick retreated. _Maybe he went the other way?_ Dick turned ready to leave the alley. Before he could take his first step a cry went out.

"No, Cass, don't!"

Dick turned around to see a young girl in midair about to kick him. Thinking fast Dick jumped out of the way, landing on his feet and adding in a couple of flips as well. As soon as the girl landed Dick pounced on her and grabbed her by the waist holding her to his chest. Ignoring the girl squirming in his arms, he looked over the alley again.

"Who's there? Come out with your hands above your head!" A shuffling sound began and two boys came out behind the garbage can. One of them was the green-eyed boy Dick had been chasing while the other looked to be four years old. He had black hair as well a tan complexion and high cheekbones that spoke of good breeding, his eyes were a shade of blue that almost matched Dick's just a shade darker.

"Please don't put us in jail, Mistew Officew! We pwomise we wewen't twying to huwt you." The younger boy pleaded. Dick sighed.

"First, you give me back my wallet." Dick said pointing at the green-eyed boy. The boy put one hand in his pocket and pulled out the leather wallet and dropped it on the floor in between Dick and him. Dick walked over and pocketed the wallet. He turned to the little girl in his arms.

"I want you going to put you down, okay? I want you to go over there and stand next to the boys with your arms above your head." The girl stopped moving and cocked her head as if considering his words before nodding. Dick placed the girl on the floor and watched as she walked over to stand next to the boys.

"Okay, kids. What are your names?"

The three children looked at each other before turning to look at the green-eyed boy. He sighed.

"My name is Jason Todd. The lil' guy next to me is Tim Drake and the gal is Cassandra." Dick raised his eyebrows.

"No last name?"

"We don't know. Cass doesn't speak English good. She uses hand gast- guess-gestuwes." Tim piped up. Dick held back a smile at Tim's struggle to pronounce the word gestures.

"How old are you guys?"

"I'm fouw! Jason's nine and Cass is si-seven?" Tim looked to Cassandra for confirmation and she shook her head and held up five fingers.

"Oh! She's five!" Tim chirped. _Time to pop the big question._

"What are you guys doing living on the streets?"

Suddenly the playful nature dropped from Tim and Jason looked down.

"My dad left me and my mom a couple of years ago and last year I came home from school to find my mom dead on the kitchen floor. The police said she overdosed on painkillers. I was put in an orphanage and I broke out a week later. I found Tim and Cass huddled underneath a cardboard box. Tim's parents died at a shooting and he ran away from the scene and became lost. Cass… well, Cass we don't know much about. She knows a lot of cool martial moves though so we think she was being trained to be a ninja or something."

Dick stared at the children. _These poor kids had been through so much. Even Cass, Dick knew living on the street was tough. He couldn't just let these kids fend for themselves!_ Dick pulled out his wallet, watching the kids out of the corner of his eyes fidget in guilt, he rifled through the pockets. Making sure all his credit cards, money, badges and driver's license was there. Satisfied, Dick tucked the wallet in his breast pocket where it would be harder to steal.

"How would you kids like to have dinner with me?" All the shuffling stopped.

"No strings attached?" Jason asked raising an eyebrow.

"No strings attached." Dick nodded. Tim squealed and began hugging Cassandra while she shot a grin at Dick then hugged back. Jason grinned and leaned back against a wall crossing his arms and watching the younger children.

"I'll take that as a yes!" Dick laughed. The squealing went on for a while before Tim suddenly stopped and toddled over to Jason to whisper something in the older boy's ear. Jason leapt off the wall and scurried into a dark corner of the alley. He delicately picked up a sniffling something and walked back to Dick.

"We forgot a member. This is Damian we found him yesterday crying his lungs out in a Gotham alley."

"Yesterday?" Dick asked carefully picking up the baby. "Was there anything with him?" Dick peeled open the clothes and looked down at the slowly quieting baby. _The poor thing was covered in bruises._

"Hey, you made him stop cwying!" Tim said inching closer and closer to Dick.

Jason looked on curiously. "Yeah, he's been crying since we found him. All he's been doing is hittin' and screamin' at us."

Dick quickly wrapped up the baby again and placed him against his chest, feeling the baby clutch at his shirt. "Listen kids, we need to get Damian to a hospital he's badly injured. We can make a stop at Subways or Wendy's, is that okay?"

Jason furrowed his eyebrows before nodding he held out his hand for Tim and the boy latched on. Dick did the same for Cassandra and watched as she stared at it distrustfully before also latching on.

"C'mon kids my car is at the corner of this block."

The children followed Dick to the car and watched as he turned it on and drove out of the city. As he was entering the highway Tim piped up from the back.

"Ummm… Mistew Officew, you nevew told us youw name." Dick startled. Tim was right he had never introduced himself to the children.

"My name is Richard Grayson but you guys can call me Dick." He heard a snort from the back and caught eyes with Jason on the rearview mirror.

"Sorry…Dick."

"Can I call you Mistew Gwayson? My mommy told me to nevew say that wowd." Tim asked innocently.

Dick couldn't help but smie. "Sure you can, Timmy,"


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Dick saw the hospital's main entrance the kids were finishing up their kids meals. Dick had bought it from a drive thru near an exit. As soon as the lady from the window passed the bag through the window, Jason grabbed it from him and began shuffling through it. he was about to scold Jason, thinking that he was going to eat all by himself, before realizing that the boy was just checking to make sure the food was safe.

Finally pulling into the emergency parking, Dick parked the car and got out. He walked to the back and opened the doors before grabbing Damian off Jason's lap and holding a hand out to Cassandra.

"Come on, kids. We need to get inside before Dr. Leslie goes off duty." Cass stared at his hand inspecting it before turning to Jason and grabbing hold of his arm. _Ouch. Rejected._ Dick tried to hold back his hurt look and pointedly ignored Jason's smirk at the back of his head. He clutched Damian closer to his chest, breathing in the sweet scent that only babies seemed to have before wrinkling his nose at the other smells emitting from him.

"Don't wowwy, Mistew Gwayson. I'll hold youw hand!" Tim exclaimed in his adorable voice and practically leapt out of the car. He latched on to Dick's hand and sent a huge grin up at the police officer. Dick felt his heart squeeze in his chest and held back the squeals that were threatening to come out. Instead, he chuckled leading the group to the check-in counter.

"I have a six to ten month old infant covered in bruises, he needs a doctor." The lady looked up from her computer lazily chewing gum and primping her hair.

"His name?"

"Damian."

"Last name as well."

"Umm… I don't know. I found him in an alley crying his lungs out with a piece of paper that just said his name was Damian." Dick lied. "Look, is there any way we can skip this game of twenty questions and get Damian to the medical help he needs?" The lady gave him an unimpressed look and he saw the children's shift from the corner of his eye. Out of aggravation or impatience, Dick didn't know.

"I'm afraid I can't do that. It seems that you are maybe better suited for a free clinic, they won't play a game of twenty questions with you." Dick held back his anger and forced himself just to roll his eyes and sigh.

"Can you page Dr. Leslie for me, please? She and I have History." The lady rolled her eyes and typed in her computer.

"Dr. Leslie will be with you shortly." Dick sighed again, this time in relief.

"What a bitch." Jason whispered under his breath. Dick glared at him.

"Sorry, I meant… Witch?" Rolling his eyes for probably the hundredth time that hour, Dick passed Damian to Jason.

The instant Damian left his arms He began crying. Tim and Cass covered their ears while Dick and Jason winced at the loud wails coming from the baby. All the occupants in the room turned to look at them and Dick felt his face flush as he scrambled for Damian. He tried to soothe the infant, running his hand through Damian's hair. In seconds the baby quieted clutching Dick's collar and happily sucking on his tie as his bright blue eyes wandered around the room trying to take in all he could with his tiny eyes. Tim cautiously took his hands off his ears.

"Wow! He weally like you. Youw a babeee whispewew!" Tim said in awe staring at Damian while inching closer again. He lifted one finger and Dick watched warily as Tim poked Damian in the cheek. He flinched waiting for the nightmarish wails to start again. Damian stopped sucking on the tie and turned his head to look at Tim -Dick wondered if Damian was old enough to see and understand images- before spitting the tie out and baring his toothless mouth at Tim and glaring, as well as a baby can.

"Aww loowk, He likes me!" Tim exclaimed, excited and went in for another poke. Before the finger could reach its target Damian blanched and promptly threw up over Tim. The children and Dick stood still for a couple seconds before Tim began crying. Dick jumped out of his seat and began ushering Tim to the bathroom, passing Damian off to Jason-who this time did not cry. He washed Tim's face and tried to wash his shirt as best as he could before kneeling before the now hiccupping boy in front of him.

"Are you okay, Timmy?" he said running a hand through Tim's hair in a comforting gesture. Suddenly the four year old boy was in his arms sobbing on his shoulders.

"Wh-why doesn't Dami-Damian liwke me!" Dick wrapped his arms around the child tucking Tim's head under his chin.

"Shhh Timmy. It'll be ok. Damian is really sick and your poking probably unsettled him. It's not your fault, you couldn't have known." Tim clutched Dick like he was his life-line.

"So he does hawte mwe!" Tim cried even louder. Dick made a bewildered face behind his face unsure of what to do.

"No no no no, Timmy! He doesn't hate you! You're his older brother! Of course, he loves you!" Dick said squeezing the boy in his arms. The sobbing slowly quieted as Tim absorbed what Dick had said.

"Weally? Do you think so?"

"I know so, Timmy." The boy grinned and pulled away from him.

"Thanks, Mistew Gwayson fow cheewing me up! You give gweat hugs." Dick ignored the last line and stood up.

"You're welcome Tim. Now come on, Cass and Jason are probably waiting for us." Tim followed Dick bouncing on the balls of his feet. Along the way Dick made a stop at the hospital's gift shop. He bought Tim a lollipop and teddy bear who convinced him to get a lollipop for Jason and another Teddy bear for Cass. Just before Dick checked out, Tim ran to him and placed another lollipop in his basket. When Dick asked who it was for, Tim stared at him his bright blue eyes twinkling.

"Fow you, silly! You've been a good boy too!"

Dick felt his eyes tear up and had just smiled down at Tim. They finally reached the check-in counter where Cassandra and Jason were waiting with a sleeping Damian.

"Took you long enough, where did you go?" Jason asked tossing a suspicious glance in Dick's direction as he collected Damian.

"Look, Mistew Gwayson bought us gifts!" Tim answered distributing the gifts to the proper people. Dick watched as Cass cuddled the teddy bear before smiling softly at him. Jason glared at him before pocketing the lollipop. Suddenly Dick noticed Leslie at the other side of the waiting room.

"Leslie, over here!" Dick waved his arm to catch her attention.

"Dick! How nice to see you! And who are these munchkins?" Leslie said getting to the point. She fixed him with a scathing glare. "They better not be yours." Dick chuckled nervously.

"No, no. Leslie meet Jason, Tim, Cassandra and Damian." Dick introduced each child by laying a hand on each child's head- although Jason sidestepped his hand. "I found them in an alley. Listen, Damian is covered in bruises. I need you to check up on him but I have no idea about his medical history." Leslie smiled.

"That's okay, we'll start a new one for him." She took Damian from his arms and began walking further into the hospital. Dick herded the children after her,

"I suppose the other children will need to be checked up, as well?"

"Yeah, I guess-"

"Checked up? I don't want to see a doctow. I'm scawed of needles!" Tim cut off, tears already welling in his eyes. Dick panicked in his head. He picked up the child.

"No, Tim. There's nothing to be scared of, I'll be there with you the whole time and I promise it won't hurt!" Dick didn't bother assuring the kid that there wouldn't be any shots because he knew it was a very likely option.

Jason cast another suspicious look Dick's way. "Yeah so will I, Tim." Cass also offered her support, reaching up to brush her hand against Tim's forearms. Dick felt Tim nod into his shoulder and held back a sigh.

 _Another disaster avoided._

 _AN: Apparently the first time I posted this chapter all the formatting appeared, sorry for the inconvenience I tried to update from my phone so that's probably y it happened. This story is also on Archive of our own and is currently at chapter 7, so if anybody's really dying to find out what happened next you can go over there. My username on ao3 is thinker1357 and the title of the story is the same._


	3. Chapter 3

He had been sitting on the uncomfortable plastic chairs of the ICU for the past three hours, staring at the Doctors and Nurses walking into the room and comforting the children. Tim had fallen asleep in his lap, resting his head against Dick's chest, after crying himself out because of an immunization shot. While Cass had fallen asleep reluctantly-even in sleep-against Dick's arm, sitting next to him. Jason was the only one awake, alternating between glaring at Dick and the ICU door. Dick had attempted to make conversation with the boy only to be met with deafening silence and had eventually given up. So, it was quite a surprise when Jason, himself, had broken his self-made silence.

"You want to adopt them, don't you?"

Dick startled, he hadn't expected Jason to even to speak to him, let alone ask a question, _that_ specific question.

"I'm going to take that as a yes…You should adopt them, they deserve better than this." Jason said looking at the kids, his usually sharp eyes going soft as he brushed Cassandra's hair out of her eyes. "They deserve better than what I can give them. I tried my best but a nine year old can't really do much for two kids. Just… Keep'em safe… Dick."

"And where do you think you're going? I want to adopt you too, Jason."

Jason looked up surprised. "Adopt me? Why? You're a cop… I stole your wallet!"

Dick chuckled. "You stole it for a good reason and while I don't support your methods, I like your motives. Plus, Jay, I've fallen in love with all four of you, I can't just leave you on the streets-it would be against my cop ways."

Jason scowled. "I don't believe you." He growled. "You have to have another motive, no one is this nice."

"How about this, Jay, you guys live with me for a week and see how it is. If you don't like it or you're still suspicious of me, you can leave with all the kids." Dick offered his hand to shake.

Jason glared at it before spitting in his hand and taking it. "Deal."

Dick held back a wince as he felt the spit spread from Jason's hand to his. The moment Jason let go of his hand he discreetly wiped it off on his slacks, wishing he could go to the bathroom to wash his hand but didn't want to wake the kids. Luckily, Leslie walked out that moment distracting Dick from his disgusting hands. Jason leapt up from where he was sitting.

"How is he, Doc? Can we take him back?" Leslie smiled down at him before addressing both of them.

"Well, we've treated all his bruises with ointment and checked for any internal bleeding, luckily he doesn't have any. But it does bring up some concerns of domestic abuse since the injuries seem to be purposely inflicted. He also has a slight case of bronchitis. We can't do much more than give him some acetaminophen to relieve the fever and clear his nose using saline nose drops. It should pass with time. Continue giving him saline nose drops every two hours and some acetaminophen before he goes to sleep every night until his fever goes down. Keep him hydrated. We'll need to check up on him again in another week, you can call to make an appointment this time." Leslie summarized then she turned down to look at Jason, smiling.

"And yes, you can take him home tonight. I'm assuming they're staying home with you, Dick." She cast a pointed look at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course, they are!" Dick replied before looking down at the children to check if they were still asleep. "And what about the rest of the kids, did they check out okay?" Leslie flipped through her clipboard.

"Yes, we've restarted or started-in Cassandra's case-their medical records. Cassandra's checked out healthy-slightly too healthy. Her muscles have advanced development and razor-sharp reflexes, it's not normal in five year olds. As for her speech, we've deduced that she either won't or doesn't know how. I personally support the latter opinion. She can read body language very well and has her own version of communication. It's up to you to figure out what that communication is. Tim, however, is missing a spleen. We looked into his medical history and apparently at three years old, Tim accidentally hit the handlebars of his tricycle and ruptured it. His parents immediately sought out medical care and had it removed. He'll have to take antibiotics every day, since his immune system is weaker than it should be." She flipped another page. "Oh and Jason has lice. You can buy over-the-counter products to treat that."

"Hey! I don't have lice!" Jason said indignantly, scratching his head while the adults looked on amusedly.

Dick shook hands with Leslie, accepting the papers full of prescriptions and advice and the bag full of basic baby care before accepting the baby carrier with Damian in it and passing the bag full of supplies to Jason. They quickly woke up Cass and Tim, Cass immediately grabbed Jason's hand while Tim clutched the back of Dick's shirt. They walked like that half-way to the parking lot until Dick took pity on the poor boy tripping on his own feet and put him on his shoulders. By the time they reached the car Tim was fast asleep, resting his cheek on top of Dick's head while Cass was the one now tripping. Dick quickly herded the children in, strapping Damian's carrier down, then drove off.

/

"…'kay, thanks Wally." Dick hung up on his best friend before slipping the phone into his pockets and looking down at the fussing baby in his arms. He watched exasperated as perfect tiny fists hit his chest and tiny feet, with five toes each, kicked him. Wide, blue, innocent eyes looked up at him as they fluttered open and close in pain and a tiny mouth scrunched up in a scowl. He rocked the baby slightly humming a tune under his breath before quitting as the baby emitted a wail.

"shhh…Dami, I know it hurts but no matter how much I wish, it won't go away. Just be a strong boy, yeah? Soon you'll be smiling and laughing with your siblings. And no matter how bad it gets I'll be here… for all of you."


	4. Chapter 4

Dick exited the small kitchen, holding the still-awake Damian, walking into the living room only to be met with the scene of three silent figures sitting on the couch. One look into each of their eyes gave Dick the answer to his unasked question and he felt a wave of compassion take over him.

"Nightmares?" Dick asked, shifting Damian to his other shoulder. He was answered with silence and a becoming-frequent glare from Jason.

"I know how you feel." That got a snort from Jason, who turned away from Dick to stare at the wall. "No really." Dick pulled up a chair in front of the couch and sat down, rocking Damian in his arms.

"I was born in a circus. My parents and I were part of the main attraction, The Flying Graysons. They were accomplished acrobats and worked the trapeze for the show. I grew up on the trapeze, learned how to fly before I learned to walk, and when I turned six I joined my parents on their act. People from everywhere would come see it and the circus traveled across the world, from Europe to Japan. "Dick recited his story watching as the kids slowly began focusing their attention on him.

Tim stared up at him with wide, wondering eyes, while Cass narrowed her eyes at him, scrutinizing every word he said. Even Jason turned from the wall to look at Dick. Damian was silent in his arms but still awake, sucking on his fingers. Dick gently pulled Damian's fingers out of his mouth, continuing his story.

"When I was eight, we went on a trip across the USA; last stop, Gotham. There, a gangster named Tony Zucco threatened our ringmaster, Haly or Pops as I called him. Tony wanted Pops to pay "protection" money, Pops refused. Tony left unhappily promising consequences. That night, during our act, my parents fell to their deaths in front of me."

Tim gasped, his hands going to his mouth while Jason flinched back, clearly not expecting this part of the story. Cass continued staring at Dick but her eyes just a shade softer. Damian, sensing the tension in the air began crying, waving his tiny arms in the air for Dick's attention. Dick immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out a pacifier, giving it to Damian.

"We had just begun our act. My parents had already jumped on the trapeze and were waiting for me to join. They swung over to my platform, my dad holding my mom by her legs with his legs around the bar, my Mom with her hands outstretched for me, both smiling." Dick whispered, a glazed look taking over his normally electrifying blue eyes.

"I was standing on the platform, just about to jump when I heard a creaking noise above me. I looked up just in time to see the hooks disconnect from the pole. My parents saw it at the same time as me, there was no time for me to warn them. My dad's eyes widened and my mom looked at me, fear written across her face, her mouth screaming my name. Then they plunged down to thei…thei…" Dick closed his eyes, fighting against the flood of tears.

He felt a pair of arms wrap around his shoulders before a tiny figure climbed into his lap. Dick opened his eyes to see Tim in his arms, clinging to him like a lifeline. Shifting Damian away from Tim, Dick slowly wrapped his around the younger boy, burying his face in the now-sweetly scented hair. Dick began speaking his voice muffled by Tim's hair.

"Social Services were completely against me staying in the circus so I was put in a orphanage. I stayed there for maybe a month before the matron moved me to Gotham juvie saying there wasn't any space in the orphanage. At first, I was glad I moved. I was constantly bullied at the orphanage. Forced to sleep on the floor, clean the room, do laundry, sometimes the matron even made me cook dinner. But Juvie was worse. Instead of just chores the kids began beating me up. I tried to fight them but a tiny eight year old like me couldn't really do anything against a group of sixteen-year-old-delinquent-criminals, so, I ran. I lived on the streets for about four years of my life. Dick said, almost finished.

"So, yeah, I know exactly how it feels. To have the two most important people in your world to be ripped away. I know how it feels to be all alone in the world and feel like your worthless. Like people don't care for you. I know how it feels to live on the streets, fighting to see another day. I know how it feels when the world is against you. But to quote Lion King in the risk of being cheesy, when the world turns your back on you… sometimes, you gotta turn your back on the world." Dick finally ended, standing up with both Tim and Damian in his arms.

He walked away and turned right to the hall and stopped in front of the guest room where Tim and Cass had been sleeping. Dick stared at the door wondering how to turn the knob with two kids in his arms. He was considering the possibility of turning it with his hips when a sleepy voice spoke out.

"Can I sweep wif you?"

Dick thought about it. He didn't really see any problem with it and it allowed him to keep a closer eye on Tim, plus it solved his doorknob problem. So, he turned around and went back to the master's bedroom. Dick carefully laid Damian down in his crib, making sure to cover him with a red blanket and tucking him in with his stuffed bird before turning to the queen bed on the other side of the room.

He laid Tim down, covering him with the duvet then moving to the other side of the bed and getting in. As soon as Dick was in bed, Tim rolled over next to Dick, cuddling into his chest. Dick unsurely put his arm around the young boy.

A couple of minutes passed with Dick staring out into the darkness before the door to his room slowly opened. Dick sat up in bed only to see a blank-face Cassandra standing in front of the door.

"Errrr… do you want to sleep with us too?" Dick asked unsurely. Before he could finish his sentence the young girl bolted across the room and laid herself next to Tim. Dick laid back again and continued staring into the darkness, his eyes slowly drooping as the events of the day and night began to catch up on him.

Before his eyes could completely close the door opened again and Jason stepped in staring around in a cool fashion clearly trying to cover his nerves. The sight brought a smirk to Dick's face and he closed his waiting to see if Jason would overcome his pride and sleep with them. He heard more shuffling as the eldest child slowly came closer to the bed.

"Hey, dickhead. Hey." Jason whispered. Dick ignored him and continued to feign sleep. Jason must've believed it because he heard a sigh before more shuffling began. A couple of moments later the other side of the bed shifted and more of the duvet was pulled to the other side.

Slowly the nine year olds breathing turned into light snores and Dick was left as the only one awake. As he was pulled into darkness his last thought was of the four children in the room with him and his heart surged with an indescribable emotion.


	5. Chapter 5

Day 1:

The sound of his phone ringing woke Dick up. He turned on his side hoping to fall asleep again until his eyes caught sight of the clock. _He was late for work! Amy was going to kill him._ Sure enough when he glanced at the screen of his phone, Amy's caller ID flashed back at him. With a groan he tapped the accept button and held it to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Grayson! Where the hell are you? Your patrol started two hours ago!"

Dick groaned again and leaned back resting against the headboard, rubbing his face with his free hand.

"Listen Amy, I'm kind of in a situation. I need you to put me on paternity leave for a couple of months." The other end of the phone grew silent for a couple of seconds and Dick could practically see Amy raising her eyebrows at him.

"Grayson… Did you get a girl pregnant?"

Dick winced at the assumption and ran his hand through his hair.

"No" he huffed before jumping into an explanation of what had happened the day before.

Amy listened in silence. The only sounds that convinced Dick she was still there was her breathing and mouse clicks.

"…So I brought them home." Dick finished nervously. A sigh came over the line and Dick chewed his bottom lip.

"You have a heart of gold, Rookie." More mouse clicks and tapping came over the line. "But I can't get you that paternity leave yet. It says here that you have to have legal guardianship of the child before you ask for leave, so, until you adopt them my hands are tied."

Dick groaned for the third time that morning.

"But I can get you leave with all your vacations. You haven't took one in two years and it should get you at least three weeks to get the adoption papers filed and approved."

"Two weeks should be enough" Dick said excitedly. He heard one last final click.

"There, it's done. You can come in and file for paternity leave when you finalize the adoption."

"Thank you so much…"

Amy chuckled. "Don't thank me yet. Kids aren't exactly easy to take care of- and I should know with three of my own but if you need any help, don't hesitate to call me."

Dick agreed and said his goodbyes before hanging up. Just as he set his phone down a crash echoed through his apartment. In one swift movement, Dick leapt out of bed grabbing the extra eskirma stick he hid under his pillow. Glancing around he noticed that all the kids were gone except Damian. Dread filled him as he stealthily walked out of his room. _He couldn't lose them on the first day itself!_ Creeping in the shadows Dick followed the whispers he heard to the kitchen. He flattened himself against the wall and listened in on the culprits.

"Oh man, Dickhead is going to be so pissed."

"But I don' wan' Mistew Gwayson to be mad…"

Dick sighed in relief, it was just the kids. Quickly tucking his eskirma into the waistband of his sweats and covering it with his shirt, Dick stepped out into the kitchen. He was met with the sight of a panicked Jason covered in flour, pointing at pieces of glass on the floor which Dick assumed used to be his good plates. Tim and Cass were standing on the table. Tim looking on in shock while Cass stared impassively and was, surprisingly the first to notice Dick.

"What's going on here?"

Jason turned in shock and paled to camouflage with the flour. Tim shrieked and spun on the table, almost falling off, only to be saved by Cass.

"I-I-I was making pancakes. 'cause Cass and Tim were hungry. And well. IBurnedThePancakesAndAccidentllySetTheOvenOnFire-"

"You set the oven on fire!" Dick exclaimed walking towards said appliance and opening it. He stared in shock at the charred insides. "Why were you cooking the pancakes in the Oven?!"

"I kind of accidentally pressed the wrong button." Jason said looking at his toes. "At least I didn't set the kitchen on fire…?"

"…are you mad, Mistew Gwayson?" Tim tentatively asked. Dick rubbed his face with his hand, slowly he stood up.

"No, I'm not mad…exactly. It's a mixture of shock, concern, self-hate and frustration." Dick said shaking his head. _He thinks he just learned the first lesson of parenting: DO NOT LEAVE CHILDREN UNATTENDED._

Lost in his thoughts Dick steps forward not noticing the puddle of pancake mixture until it's too late. He slips, grabbing unto Jason for balance. Who inn turns grabs unto the table cloth and with a big crash Tim, Cass, Jason and all the silverware and plates are on the floor with him, shattered into pieces. And as if the universe was testing him a loud cry went out into the air from Dick's room.

 _It was going to be a_ _ **long**_ _week._


	6. Chapter 6

Day 2:

Dick was playing with Damian when he smelt it. He had been tossing the baby up in the air and laughing at the tiny, adorable scowling face, when the smell hit him. Carefully, he lifted up the baby and smelt his bottom.

 _Nothing._ It was all powder and the sweet baby smell only children possessed.

Damian frowned harder-if that was possible- and began hitting Dick, displeased with the lack of attention. Dick slowly put the baby down in his play pen and walked out of the room, ignoring the rattle of bars and Damian's intelligible babbling.

Opening the hallway's bathroom, Dick took a good whiff before deciding the smell wasn't coming from there. Cass and Tim watched curiously as their caretaker walked around the apartment, opening doors and smelling rooms. Worried for his pseudo-father Tim carefully set aside the blocks he had been building a castle with.

"Uhhh… Mistew gwayson, what are you doing?" Tim asked, tilting his head cutely to the side.

"I'm trying to find that weird smell." Dick answered, not pausing in his search other than to answer the boy with a wrinkle of his nose.

"What smell?"

Dick paused turning to look at the boy sitting on the floor.

"What do you mean, 'what smell'?"

The boy giggled to himself at the look and tone of his shocked caretaker.

"It always smells like this." The boy said with a light shrug before he turned back to his creation. Dick shook his head before walking out of the room to continue his search.

As he walked past the living room he smelled it again. Backtracking, he stepped into the living room, before stepping back out. The smell was _overwhelming_. _It_ smelled like moldy pizza, an old gym sock and a public bathroom had decided to have a baby and thrown it in a garbage can. Steeling himself, Dick walked in, this time prepared.

Cautiously stepping closer to the couch, he finally discovered where the smell was coming from. _It_ was not coming from a moldy pizza slice. Or a week old gym sock.

No, _It_ was coming from the boy lying there.

"Jason, come on wake up." Dick said shaking the boy's shoulder with his pointer finger and thumb, knowing he would need to wash his hands after this.

"Huh? Whaaa…." The younger boy yawned. "Oh it's you, Dickhead. What do you need?"

"I need you to take a shower." Dick prodded the boy up and on his feet.

"What?! No!" Jason protested, avoiding Dick's attempts to prod him in the direction of the shower.

"You _will_ take a shower, Jason" Dick said with force, grabbing the boy by his arms to keep him still while inwardly moaning at the fact he would probably have to wash both his arms too now- Dick didn't know how dirty Jason had to be to smell like this but he didn't want to find out.

"No I won't. You can't make me if you can't catch me!" With that proclamation, the boy squirmed out of Dick's hands and ran off.

Jason ran past Tim who was still building his castle. An idea came to him and a smirk crossed his face. In a deliberate movement Jason knocked over Tim's castle, ignore the loud protesting 'hey' from the younger boy. As he ran out of the hallway he saw Dick coming from the other end. Turning a corner, he heard loud yelps coming from behind him as Dick probably just stepped on the blocks.

Sliding into the kitchen with his socks, Jason looked around the room for an escape, finding none he turned to face his fate. There in the entrance was Dick, his arms splayed wide with an evil grin on his face.

"C'mon Jason there's no place to go from here. You hav to give up now." Dick said while slowly advancing on the boy.

Thinking fast, Jason veered to one side and managed to get almost to the door before being pulled back. However, Dick miscalculated his strength and before they knew it they were both on the floor, covered in trash. Jason gigged as he looked at Dick.

"I guess you have to take a shower too now."

With a sigh Dick stood up before the picking the younger boy up-not trusting him not to run off.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. I'll start the water and you begin taking off your clothing." At his words Jason gave him a strange look.

"Are you sure you're not a pedophile?" Jason asked, crossing his arms. The older man looked at him in amusement, used to questions like this by now.

"Yes I'm quite sure. Besides, how many times do I have to tell you I have a girlfriend?" Dick asked, carrying Jason to the tub and setting him down.

"Clearly not enough." The boy said, with a pout. "I've never seen no girlfriend around here, anyways."

"That's because she doesn't live here. She's in another city." Dick turned on the water in the tub, waiting for the tub to fill.

"Suuuure she does."

 **AN: So i just realized i only put out one an so far in the story and thought maybe i should put out another one. I appreciate all the support i've gotten from you guys and would love to hear what you guys think of the story so far. Criticism is welcomed as it helps me develop as a writer! Just no flaming please, it's one thing to criticize someone's work to help them grow and another thing to insult their work to the point where they don't want to ever write again.**


	7. Chapter 7

Day 5:

"LALALALALALALALA"

Dick winced as he heard the noise, fighting the urge to cover his ears. Tim was 'singing' again, and by singing he meant screaming at the top of his lungs while banging Dick's pots and pans with a spatula- it was honestly a wonder the neighbors hadn't come to check in on them yet.

"Make him stop." Jason moaned from the dining table. His head was on the table with his arms curled around his ears. Cass was staring at him with a pleading look on her face and even Damian looked on the verge of tears in his highchair.

It had become a bit of a habit that the children would crowd around the dining table whenever Dick started cooking meals. At first it had only been Jason but the others slowly started joining in. He suspected the only reason it began was because Jason was being paranoid and wanted to see exactly what Dick was doing to their food. Dick couldn't blame the kid, living on the streets was hard and you had to be cautious about everything you touched, you never know if something belonged to a gang member or had drugs in it.

"Tim, the spaghetti's ready, why don't you go wash your hands so you can eat." Dick walked over to Tim and gently pulled the spatula out of his hands. "Your drums will still be here waiting for you, after dinner."

Tim looks up at him, clearly about to object, when Cass comes and saves him from what he likes to call the "puppy dog eyes of doom". Dick can't resist that look anymore than he can stop a speeding bullet, and he dreads the day aggressive little Damian learns to do it.

/

Dinner goes by smoothly, or as smoothly as it can with four children. It seems Damian finds humor in unexpectedly spitting out his food at unaware victims. The other children don't take well to it and Dick finds himself warily eyeing the fork held in Jason's hand as time goes by. Luckily no one is hurt by the time dinner ends and Dick only has a minimal amount of mess to clean up.

He sends Tim and Cass with Jason to get ready for bed while taking Damian to his room to clean up. Damian falls asleep in the middle of his bath and Dick can't help but coo over the child. Multiple photos are taken before Damian is finally settled in his crib. Staring at the sleeping child makes him realize how much his life has changed in the past three days. He was responsible for four children. Children. Hell, Dick couldn't keep a goldfish alive five days ago. He could only hope he did the best he could for them.

/

Dick returned to the kitchen, only to find Tim sitting on the counter with a box of chocolates in his lap. He eyed the box warily, after hearing horror stories of Lian on a sugar high from Roy, Dick was a bit apprehensive of giving children candy.

"Timmy, where did you get the chocolate from?" The box was practically empty by now and Dick was praying to god Tim hadn't eaten all of them.

" .DoYouWantSome?They'weWeallyGood, ,WannaPlayAGame?TagYouwIt." With that Tim jumped off the counter and ran out of the kitchen.

Dick paled as the words Tim just said computed in his head. Those chocolates had been in the cupboard for two years now. He had left them there after a failed valentine's surprise for Kori and forgotten about them. If Tim really ate all of those then he was going to be dealing with a very, very sick child tonight.

It took him three hours to catch Tim and tuck him in bed. By the time Tim was asleep, Dick was too exhausted to do anything else other than fall face down on his bed, and he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

/

"Dick. Hey, dickhead."

Dick slowly regained consciousness, trying to place the voice that was calling him.

"Dick. Diiick. It's Jason. Wake up."

Dick rolled over, he was too tired to be dealing with this right now."Whattaya want?" He mumbled into his pillow. There was a pause and Dick could feel Jason hesitating above him.

"Tim's sick, he's in the bathroom throwing up."

That woke Dick up. He threw the covers off himself and ran to the bathroom. Tim was there on his knees retching into the toilet. Cass was standing over him and rubbing his back, the moment she saw him the relief was palpable on her face and she stepped away to let Dick replace her.

"Hey Timmy, how you feeling?" Dick whispered into Tim's ear, a sob left the boys mouth and Dick wanted to slap himself. The kid was throwing his guts up at three o clock in the morning, how did he think he felt. "It's okay Tim, just let it out. You'll feel better once it's all out." Dick kept whispering, rubbing Tim's back. He motioned behind his back to Jason to leave, that he's got it and saw out of the corner of his eye Cass and him leave.

They sat like that in front of the toilet for what felt like forever, until Tim finally turned around and wrapped his arms around Dick's waist before crying into his chest.

"My tummy huwts! I'm sowwy I ate the chocolate, I'll nevew eaat chocolate again!" Tim sobbed into Dick's chest his fists tightening around the cotton shirt Dick had hastily threw on.

"Shhh, shhhh, it's ok, Tim. You didn't know the chocolate was bad. You'll feel better soon okay. Let's go into the kitchen, I'll make you some tea, your stomach'll feel better then." Dick picked up the child and walked to the kitchen, setting him down on the table before preparing a pot of tea. Once the pot was on the stove he walked back to Tim and began cleaning the now quiet child's face.

An awkward silence reigned in the kitchen and Dick found himself whispering stories of himself from when he was child. He talked about his parents, the trapeze and all the tricks he used to do. He even told Tim about the time Dick had misjudged the landing and ended face down in a pile of elephant poop. The tiny giggle that erupted from Tim was worth it and when the child looked up with a smile and glittering blue eyes with unshed tears, Dick couldn't help but smile back.

Tim drank his tea while listening to Dick's stories, giggling from time to time at the silly parts. As the cup emptied Tim's eyes slowly drooped until they were completely closed and Tim was asleep sitting on the counter, leaning on Dick's chest. Dick picked the child up and carried him to his room, setting the child down on one side of the bed before climbing unto the other side. While lifting the covers over Tim and himself, the child rolled over pushing his head into Dick's chest again.

"Thank you fow making me feel bettew." Tim whispered into his chest. Dick smiled and ran his hand through Tim's hair, wondering how many times these children were going to make him smile in a day.

"It's fine, Tim. I didn't even know what I was doing." Dick admitted. Tim opened one eye, staring sleepily up at Dick.

"That's ok, you make a good daddy."

 **AN: I think this is honestly the best chapter yet and I just really love tiny Tim, he's too cute for his own good. Please Review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Day (Night?) 6:

Dick cautiously opened the door to the children's room, letting a silver of light flood the room before poking his head in. It had become a habit of his over the course of the week to check in with the children before he himself went to bed.

He had already checked on Tim and Damian who were sound asleep in his bedroom and was now checking in on Cassandra and Jason, who had been promoted from the couch to the bed after Tim started sleeping with Dick. Seeing only one body on the bed, Dick stepped into the room. He knew that he had sent Cassandra to bed three hours ago and that the girl hadn't come out of her room in that time since their door had been in sight of where Dick had sat. So where had Cassandra gone?

Ignoring a snoring Jason who looked like he was about to fall off the bed, Dick walked to the closed window examining the bottom. His fingers lightly ran over the broken seal and he smiled, he knew where Cassandra was. Walking around the bed to the other side, he quickly fixed Jason into a more comfortable position pulling the covers back over Jason. He let his hand rest on Jason's head for a couple of seconds before he left the room.

/

"The city looks nice in the night, doesn't it?" Dick asked the girl sitting at the edge of the roof of his apartment building. Cassandra didn't respond other than give him a cursory glance as though she had already known he was on the roof.

"It almost looks normal in the dark. But of course, Night is when the most are committed so most people don't stay out past eight. Which brings me to the real question. Why are you up here so late?" Dick's enquiry got nothing more than another cursory glance. He resisted the urge to sigh, he knew it wasn't the girl's fault, she had a hard time trusting and with a family like hers Dick thought he would have a hard time as well.

"I can't tell if you can't speak or if Lady Shiva forgot to teach you. After all, with all those assassin classes I doubt you had time for anything else." That got a reaction out of the girl and within seconds she was on her feet, hands on Dick's neck in a chokehold and eyes darting across the roof. Dick awkwardly smiled at her from his position, aware of just how quickly she could snap his neck like this.

"Hey, chill. I swear there's no one else on this roof and that I'm not going to do anything to you. I'm not working for the League of Assassins or Shadows." Dick coaxed, trying to sound as harmless as he could. "C'mon, I won't do anything. If I was going to, I would have already done it the first night you stayed here." Unable to dispute the logic, Cassandra slowly let go off his neck, cautiously backing up but still on the defense.

Dick rubbed his neck and cleared his throat before patting the floor next to him. "You might want to sit down, this could take a while to explain." Cassandra squinted her eyes at him before miming an action. Dick laughed, happy that the girl was finally communicating with him. "Yeah, I get it, I won't try anything." Seemingly happy with his response, she sat down next to him, still keeping out of his reach. Clearing his throat again, Dick began.

"So when you attacked me in that alley, I immediately recognized your form as a mixture of both the League of Shadows and Assassins. I called up a friend that night who had access to files from both leagues and described you to him. He called me back the next day saying that he had found you. Imagine my surprise when he told me you were Lady Shiva's and Cain's daughter. You know, I used to be your trainer when you were younger. Ra's Al Ghul called up my ma-mentor for me to teach you acrobatics since I was the best in the field. I used to go by Renegade back then-"

At the name Cassandra's eye's widened in recognition and she looked at Dick with a new look of respect and awe in her eyes.

"Oh, so you do remember me. Then you probably remember when I suddenly went missing, I don't know what Ra told you but I had actually finally escaped my mentor. I came here to start a new life and I don't plan on going back. Judging by the state I found you in I suspect you don't want to go back either."

Cassandra nodded, inching closer and closer to Dick as he spoke. Despite what Dick had thought, Cassandra did remember Renegade. He had been the only trainer to ever be kind to her. Unlike her other trainers, Renegade had never punished her. He would just smile then tell her to try harder, sometimes he would look at her disappointedly and those looks had hurt her more than any punishment her trainers had dished out.

The thing she remembered the most about Renegade though was his stories of life outside the league. Those stories had encouraged her to escape after he had left. The first thing she had done when she had left was look for him but Renegade had seemed to disappear so she had assumed he was dead. Seeing him in front of her now was like a dream and listening to his voice now brought her back to when she lived for his presence and attention. When the hour she had with him had been the best part of her day.

Cassandra closed her eyes and let his voice wash over him and before she knew it she was asleep, head in Dick's lap and clutching his worn out T-shirt.

 **An: Cass is hard to write since she's mute but I hope I did her some justice. Review plz!**


	9. Chapter 9

Day 7:

Dick smiled pleasantly at the cashier as she bagged their groceries; in his arms Damian Tt-ed and began chewing on the collar of his shirt, displeased with the lack of attention. Only slightly annoyed, Dick gently pulled Damian off his shoulders, twisting him so that he faced the cashier. Noticing the baby's attention on her, she smiled and waved her fingers at him, grinning harder when the baby glared at her.

"Awww, he's so cute! What's his name?" she asked, handing Dick the plastic bags full of food. Dick smiled at her, the parental pride flowing off him in waves.

"His name's Damian and he's one years old."

"Really I have a nephew who's around that age, he's a little bigger than Damian though."

Dick's eyebrows furrowed and he frowned while shifting closer to the cashier. He'd been getting that a lot today and it made him worry that he was doing something wrong. Leslie had told him that albeit Damian was small, he was still in the normal weight range for his age and comments like this made him doubt her caims."Should I be worried about that? I've been following all the directions in the manual and feeding him regularly but he's still pretty small."

The cashier lifted both hands in front of her face and began waving them as though to ward off Dick's questions. "Oh no, no. Children grow at different rates, your son'll probably hit a growth spurt soon and he'll be shooting up like a weed in no time."

Damian tt-ed at that again and made a show of smacking Dick's face.

"See, even your little one agrees with me." The lady laughed. Dick gave her a weak smile, eyes filled with surprise.

"Thank you, but he's not my son." She smiled pityingly at him and reached over to pat his arm.

"It's okay, I'm not going to judge you for being a single father; the times have changed and people accept things like that. Plus I don't know how you're going to pass him off as anything other than your son when he looks so much like you…" The lady trailed off as she noticed Dick's tenseness. He quickly said his goodbyes and left the store as fast as he could.

/

Tim and Cass watched worriedly as Jason paced in front of the couch where they were sitting. Cass followed his moments with a carefully trained eye while Tim began to carefully lean against the back of the couch upside down on his head. Jason suddenly stopped in front of them and grabbed his hair.

"That Dickhead!"Jason seethed. Startled, Tim lost his balance and began slipping off the couch head first, before he hit the floor Cassandra caught him by the arm and pulled him back on the couch. Now safe, Tim rubbed his arm and cutely pouted at Jason.

"Who?" Tim asked as Cass tilted her head in question too.

"That… that Dick!" Jason yelled while pointing at a random spot. Cass turned to look where he was pointing, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Mister Gwayson? What's wong with him? He's weally nice." Tim asked his confusion turning into anger and his face twisted into a scowl in defense of his new… whatever he was. "I like him."

"That's the problem!" Jason yelled as he continued his pacing while throwing his hands in the air. "He made me like him! ME like him! He was supposed to be a douche so I could take you guys out of here."

Cass scowled at his words and moved to swat Jason on the back of his head causing Jason to trip and fall on the floor.

"Owwww…" Jason complained while he rubbed his head. Tim glared down at him and sniffed.

"Mistew Gwayson is weally nice and helped us! He gave us food and hugged us and gave us baths and stuff. You have to like him." Tim scolded a pouting Jason.

"Geez chill, Tim. I never said I didn't like him, I'm just upset things didn't work out how I expected them to." Jason admitted as he got up.

"Awww, Jason. You like me?" A teasing voice called from the entrance of the living room. Dick entered the room with Damian in one arm and a bag of groceries in one hand, he made a beeline for the kitchen counter to set the bag down before moving to where Jason, Tim and Cass were standing.

Jason scowled and kicked the carpet with his toe. "No." He muttered. Dick smiled at that before turning his face serious.

"It's been amazing having you guys around for the past week but now you need to make your decision Jason. Are you going to stay?" Jason scowled again but before he could say anything he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Cass. Seconds passed as they seemed to converse through their eyes. Finally Jason turned back to Dick who stood with bated breath.

"Fine, I'll stay… but don't expect me to call you Dad or anything, Dickwad."

Dick laughed in relief, holding himself back from hugging Jason. "I didn't expect you to."

"Does this mean I still call you Mistew Gwayson?" Tim asked from behind Cass, his eyes belying his confusion. Dick smiled gently and walked to Tim before kneeling in front of him, still holding Damian.

"This means Timmy, that you can call me whatever you want to." Dick explained as he took one of Tim's hand in his. Tim shuffled awkwardly on the carpet.

"Can I call you Daddy?" Tim asked his eyes shining with hope. Dick felt his eyes tear up and only managed to nod before Tim flung himself into Dick's free shoulder in a hug. Cass added herself to the hug and after a couple of seconds Dick gave an expectant look to Jason who was awkwardly standing off to the side watching. Jason mumbled, complaining about not being a baby before relenting and joining the hug.

At that moment, surrounded by children- **his children** , Dick felt completely at peace.


	10. Chapter 10

When Jason opened the door, he expected to see Dick heavy-laden with bags while holding a scowling Damian in one arm, pouting at Jason to help him. However, he had to admit that the gorgeous red-headed beauty in front of him was much nicer surprise than the Dickhead. He had to crane his neck to see her face and from the way her curly hair almost seemed to brush the top of the doorway, Jason had to guess she might be taller than Dick, not to mention Jason himself. Lost in her gorgeous green eyes that were similar to his, he almost missed it when she spoke.

"Um-m… wh-what?" Jason stammered, stumbling on air as he clutched either side of the door pane. The women gave him a disapproving glance, her eyes narrowing as she took in Jason's appearance before looking behind him into the apartment.

"I asked if Richard was home." She said with a jerk of her head, her voice regal and strong, suggesting that she wasn't someone to go against when she was mad. Jason thought he was in love.

"Richard, who? Baby, the only people I see here are you and me." Jason replied coolly, switching from a stuttering mess to suave in a blink of an eye. He spoke as low as he could and leaned against the door frame with a smirk on his face like he had seen the older boys on the street do when they tried to impress girls. He didn't understand the whole point of impressing a girl back then, but lord did he now, and he was grateful he had bothered to pay attention to the older boys when they told him to watch and learn.

" _Excuse me._ " Her eyes flashed, and even without raising her voice Jason could hear the fury behind the two words.

"Uuuuh…um… I meant, you can come in and wait for him, he'll be home in a couple of minutes. He went out to buy something from the store across the street." Jason cowered, quickly backing into the apartment with his hands in front of him. He watched as she considered his words carefully, before nodding and walking into the apartment, taking a seat at the only armchair in the living room like she owned the place. Jason's breath caught in his throat and honestly, he thinks, she just made him fall even more in love.

"Erm, would you like something to drink?" He asked, trying to remember how Dick had treated his boss when she came over to check up on them. The red-head shot him a look over the centerpiece and Jason resisted the urge to fidget when their eyes locked.

"I suppose I shall take a bottle of the water." She said, her unnervingly green eyes never wavering from his.

"Uhhhh… I'll go get that, then." Jason said awkwardly, before turning around and run-walking to the kitchen with the stranger's eyes still burning holes through his back.

Finally, safe from her gaze in the kitchen, Jason sighed in relief. Turning to the counter behind him that held water bottles, he was met with the unexpected sight of Tim sitting on the counter while sipping a juice box and banging his feet against the bottom cupboards. Surprised, Jason stepped back a hand going to immediately clutch his chest before he realized exactly who was sitting on the counter and letting out another sigh of relief.

"Fu-Fudge, Tim you scared me." Jason breathed out, stumbling over the curse word in an attempt to cover it up. Tim, being an observant child, had noticed immediately noticed Dick's dislike of Jason cursing and had taken it upon himself to snitch on Jason any chance he got. Not that Jason cared what the old man thought, he just didn't want to deal with the lectures.

Tim, still sucking on the straw, squinted his eyes at Jason, clearly noticing his faux-pas but choosing to ignore it as his eyes relaxed and he began to suck the straw harder.

 _\- sluuuuuurrrr- sluuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrr-_

Jason's eye twitched as each suck became noisier and noisier as Tim got to the bottom of the juice box. "Hey, Ti- "

- _sluuuuuuuurrrrrr-_

Another eye twitch, Jason's hands began itching at his sides. "Listen, can you- "

 _-sluuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-_

"Fuck this." Jason muttered before grabbing the juice box out of Tim's hand and tossing it into the trash.

"Hey,I was dwinking that!" Tim complained, his eyes sparkling with concealed mischief.

"No, you weren't, you little shit." Jason pointed his finger at Tim. "You were trying to mess with me."

Tim didn't bother denying it, instead sending a smile full of innocence at Jason. "I'm telling Daddy you said a bad wowd."

"Fuc-dam-crap." Jason sighed, slapping a hand over his face as he admitted defeat. "Just get out of here."

"No."

"Tim." Jason growled, making the younger boy tilt his head and stare questioningly.

"Why?"

"Because I told you so." Jason answered, arms crossed as he stared up at Tim. The younger boy considered Jason for a second before jumping of the counter to stand by him. Jason rolled his eyes, before sighing, an action he was slowly becoming familiar with this healthier and more hyperactive version of Tim. He'd take what he'd get. Ignoring Tim, he climbed up on top of the counter carefully opening the broken cupboard that was precariously hanging on its hinges. Quickly, he grabbed a bottle, watching the cupboard with a wary eye as it creaked before deciding it would be alright and climbing back down on the floor.

"Why'd you take a bwottle?" Tim asked, following Jason through the hallways. "You can dwink the water from the sink. Mistew-daddy said you can. And the bwottle tastes weird, plus daddy pays money fow those. You shouldn't waste daddy's money." Jason who had been listening to Tim's rambling, suddenly paused as he heard a set of voices in the living room. Grabbing Tim back by the arm, he slapped his hand across Tim's mouth to hear better.

" _Richard, it's been days since you've messaged me, I assumed you had gotten into trouble and came here to help you but instead I find you with a group of children that look almost exactly like you. What was I supposed to assume?"_

" _That I had maybe taken some children in, not, that I've been cheating on you!"_

Jason shivered, his brain taking him back to a different set of yelling, a set of yelling that usually led to him sleeping on the floor with bruises, that had his mother shooting up more heroin than usual and eventually his mother's corpse. Tim noticing his shaking said nothing other than snuggling in closer to the warm body.

" _Well, it certainly seems that you don't have time for both your children and your girlfriend, so Richard it seems you must choose."_

" _Kori, baby, no. I have time for all of you, I don't have to choose."_

Suddenly a smack sounded and Jason jolted from where he stood, the world blurred and suddenly he was standing in front of his Dad again. The smell of booze permeated from every side and all Jason could see was that leering smile. **"Trying to protect your mom again, punk? You know what happened last time, kid."** Jason whimpered and Tim who had also been standing in shock since the sound, was brought back to reality by the sound.

Turning around to face his brother he was shocked to see the tears running down his face. Carefully he reached up and patted Jason's face, scared he'd do something wrong. "Jason? Jason?" When no reply came, Tim started crying as well. He was scared. Daddy and that scary lady were yelling, Jason was crying, and he didn't know what to do. Sobbing, he wrapped his arms around Jason's middle and shoved his face into Jason's stomach.

Dick found them like that sleeping, twenty minutes later after the living room had been crashed and Kori left. A sleepy and teary faced Cassandra clutched at his legs, she had been scared by the yelling and had half way through Kori trashing the living room curled up by his legs and begun to sob. Damian was also sleeping in his arms, wiped out by all the crying he also had done.

Dick sighed as he brushed a lock of hair from Jason's face. He had gone out to the store across the street with Damian and Cass for ten minutes, when he came back he hadn't expected a furious Kori waiting for him. The argument between the two of them had went down as expected. Yelling, throwing, some physical violence on Kori's part and many hurtful words. Yet, he couldn't find it inside of him to regret what he'd done. He had defended his choice and if Kori couldn't accept the fact that she wouldn't be his only priority in life any more then she wouldn't be a part of his life.

An: Just want to be clear that Jason was developing a puppy crush on Kori in the beginning, it was nothing serious.


	11. Chapter 11

There are days when Dick wakes up happy. The sun shines, birds begin chirping, and more recently, he finds Damian sound asleep in his crib across the room, and the kids cuddled up against him on his lovely, soft, king-sized bed (he had convinced himself long ago that if he was only going to have 3 hours of sleep each day, then they were damn well going to be the best 3 hours he could get).

However, today was not going to be one of those days. Which was ironic, because today was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. He was going to make the kids his.

He was finally going to get the adoption papers officiated.

/

Dick woke up to a dark room and a snoring Jason sleeping across his stomach with Tim curled up beside him. While the latter was cute, he was getting sick of waking up to Jason sleeping somewhere he originally wasn't. Whether it be under the bed, on the couch or on a totally different spot of the bed than Dick tucked him into.

With a groan, Dick managed to push the boy off his chest, and watched as the younger boy rolled to the other side of the bed, arms hanging off the edge and his drool covered face mushed into the mattress. He considered getting up and moving him to a more comfortable position before deciding he was much too tired to deal with that.

Curling up underneath his blankets again, Dick allowed himself to relax and began his descent back to sleep- only to be woken up when the doorbell rang.

With a curse, Dick managed his way out of bed, only tripping on the carpet twice before making his way to the living room, only to see that his guest had already let himself into his house… and his food.

"Wally!"

"Dick!"

The two friends laughed at each other before hugging and Dick couldn't help but revel in the feeling of seeing one of his closest buds again.

Wally and him had joined the Teen Titans at around the same time, with Wally only being two weeks senior to Dick. The gangly teenager had actually been the person to recruit Dick as a Titan and had since, held a position in his life as a brother. They had been together through everything, from training to life and death situations to just plain teenage drama.

Wally had been there when Dick was inaugurated as the Titan's leaders and had been one of the people who cheered the loudest. Dick had been there when Wally eventually chose to make the switch from the Teen Titans to Young Justice and faced the discrimination of many of the Titans for transferring from a free-lance group to a Justice League operated one. Similarly, Wally had been there for him when he stepped down from leader and transferred to Bludhaven as a non-allied vigilante.

And now Wally was here, supporting him as he started a new family.

"Dude! It's been so long since we've hung out!" Wally exclaimed as he leaned back from the hug and smacked Dick's back. Dick chuckled and lightly punched in the direction of Wally's shoulder only to hit air and find the ginger grinning behind him.

"Yeah, it has been, especially if you can dodge my punches now. When did that happen?" Dick asked, aiming another punch at his friend only to be dodged again.

"Well, you know, I heard fatherhood weighs down on most vigilantes. Makes them slow. And weak." Wally teased from his new corner of the room.

"Don't let Roy hear you say that." Dick said grinning as he charged at Wally in a less exuberant version of the flying drop kick.

"Pshh… I was talking about you, Papa bear. Besides, he can't handle all this." Wally said, flexing his muscles jokingly before using his superspeed to dodge the kick and run to another side of the room. His feet, however, didn't take him far, half way across the room he tripped on the carpet, falling flat on his face.

Dick couldn't help but laugh, even as he walked over to help Wally up. It was too reminiscent of their teenage years, the whole running in before thinking. Nice to see some things never change.

"Yeah, all that." Dick teased, lifting Wally off the floor with ease. The ginger-head grinned sheepishly, arms behind his head before his whole demeanor seemed drop.

"Speaking of Roy… Have you heard from him recently?" Dick looked down at the floor, biting his lip then emitting a sigh and shaking his head

"No, the last time was after the custody case. You know how he gets when he's upset, and well, losing Lian to Jade has him more upset than ever. He was trying so hard to quit for her."

Green eyes became hard at that, and Dick could already feel the argument about to come from the older boy. Wally and Roy had never particularly liked each other as teens. They had been too different. Wally never understood Roy's bitterness and plain disregard of the Justice League while Roy had never understood Wally's hero-worship of them.

Arguments between the two of them usually left them bruised and battered physically and emotionally as they unknowingly pushing at each other's sore spots. Of course, Dick was the only one who knew about the emotional part. Being the only person close to both had given him a new perspective into their relationship and made him hesitant to defend either of them.

For the most part though, they ignored each other for the team's and Dick's sake. Which was why it was so disconcerting to see Wally concerned about Roy.

"Yeah, well, maybe if he hadn't gotten himself addicted to the stuff he would still have her. Honestly, it's his own fault."

"It wasn't completely his fault, and you know that Wally." Dick grits out, he so badly wants to defend Roy but he knows better than to in front of Wally. An argument over Roy was just bound to leave Wally and him even more estranged than they had been after his move to Bludhaven and honestly Dick missed Wally, it had been so long since he had seen one of his friends in real life. The move to Bludhaven hadn't been easy and left him practically estranged from all his friends but Kori.

"Listen, I don't want to argue about that. What do you want with Roy?" Dick spit out, trying to maintain a pleasant air. The ginger blinked at him, surprised at the quick subject change, before his whole posture seemed to sag. A hand reached into his back pocket and pulled out a golden embossed envelope which was handed over to Dick. Curious, Dick ripped it open without the least care only to stop and gape when he read the header.

"You are cordially invited to the wedding of Wally West and Artemis Crock?" He read out loud, a grin slowly creeping across his face. "Dude! You proposed! You didn't even tell me!" He shouted, punching Wally on the arm as his grin threatened to split his face.

"Yeah, well, it's been hard to get in touch with you recently." Wally sheepishly smiled, rubbing his shoulder.

"That's why I've been looking for Roy, Artemis really wants him there for her wedding. Something about being the older brother she never had. I, personally, don't care much for the guy, but for her I'll do anything." Wally straightened up suddenly looking serious.

"Anyways, dude, I didn't just come here to babysit your kids, I wanted to ask you something."

Dick watched expectantly, his eyebrow drifting further up his forehead as Wally fidgeted.

"I wanted to ask… if you'd like to be my Best Man."

"Oh, is that it!" Dick laughed. "Of course, Walls! If you hadn't asked I would've been a little insulted, honestly." The two laughed together at that because honestly neither could imagine their wedding without the other, not after all the years of fighting together.

"You're the only person I ever thought to ask." Wally reassured, grinning. Dick smiled back.

"Daddy?" A soft voice came from behind him. Dick turned around to see a sleepy Tim clutching the door pane while rubbing his eyes.

"Timmy, what are you doing up?" Dick asked the child as he walked over to pick him up.

"I heawd voices, and you wewe gone. I got scared." Tim pouted at Dick. Turning slightly in his father's arms, Tim caught sight of Wally. The older man waved at him as Tim squinted suspiciously.

"Who's that?"

"Ahhhh…. Well, that's my friend Wally, he's going to babysit you guys today while I go out for a while."

Tim bursts into wails before he could even finish his sentence.

 **AN: so i basically forgot about this story. sorry. I'm sorry about the horrible quality too. Review plz!**


	12. Chapter 12

_**ANNOUNCEMENT:**_ **I'm sorry to say that this isn't another chapter. However, i would really appreciate it if you guys would read this author's note instead of just ignoring it.** **So first off, I'd like to say that no, I'm not abandoning this fic like I'm sure many of you feared when you saw this.** **Next I'd like to say that I'm really grateful for all the reviews, follows, favorites and support I've gotten from everyone. I never really understand why fanfic authors seemed to whore themselves for reviews until I started writing myself and honestly i understand now. Every review I get is like the highlight of my day.** **The purpose of this author's note though was to well,... announce?... make known?... that I'm looking for a beta for this fic. I don't really know how this whole Beta thing works since I'm fairly new to writing Fanfics so if anyone's interested in explaining how it works or they would like to become my beta, they can PM me and we'll figure it out together. I swear I'm less awkward in private than I sound on this author's note.** **Thanks for reading!**


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